25th International Conference on Thermonuclear Synthesis Energy Opened in St.-Petersburg

13.10.2014 16:10

On October 13, 2014, the anniversary 25th International Conference on Thermonuclear Fusion Energy opened at the Park Inn Pribaltiyskaya Hotel in Saint Petersburg (FEC 2014).

The introductory remarks addressed to the participants have been delivered by Mr. V.A. Pershukov, Deputy Director General, Director of the Innovation Management Unit, Rosatom State Corporation. He read out the welcoming address of the Russian Federation Government signed by Mr. I.V. Borovkov, Chief of Staff of the Defense Industry Board and Deputy Chief of the Staff of the Russian Federation Government. Therein, it has been noted that the convention of the conference “opens an excellent opportunity for a significant number of scientists and specialists including young employees to introduce their research outputs and developments and familiarize themselves with the most recent achievements in the field of sustained thermonuclear fusion obtained on modern experimental thermonuclear plants in laboratories worldwide.”

Mr. Pershukov has also communicated the welcoming address of S.V. Kiriyenko, Rosatom State Corporation CEO. The address emphasizes that in the not so distant future the thermonuclear energy sector should open an access to a practically unlimited source of energy for the mankind. “The IAEA Conference will become a good venue for the discussion of the research in the field of thermonuclear energy and mapping of its development prospects for the upcoming decades,” - noted S.V. Kirienko.

On behalf of the Russian Academy of Science, the participants have been welcomed by Mr. A.G. Litvak, RAS Presidium Member. He has noted the important role of the Russian scientists in the research of thermonuclear synthesis problems. “The research on the topic initiated upon the initiative of I.V. Kurchatov, have lead to the emergence of the Tokomak concept, which laid the foundation for the ITER project,” - emphasized Mr. A.G. Litvak.

Mr. A.V. Bychkov, IAEA Deputy Director General, has also delivered a speech. He wished the conference participants a productive work and announced the Nuclear Fusion Prize awards for year 2013. The recipients were Mr. Dennis G. Whyte, MIT professor, and Mr. Philip B. Snyder, a General Atomic Corp. staff.

During the first part of the plenary meeting, a presentation about the prospects for the development of thermonuclear fusion technologies and the future of the hybrid reactors has been delivered by acad. E.P. Velikhov, President of the “Kurchatov Institute” National Research Center. In particular, he has noted that the “hybrid reactor technologies program that we intend to develop in Russia does not comprise any new ideas – to some extent, it is the furtherance of the ideas of Kurchatov he laid down as early as 1958.”

The Conference has been organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Russian Federation government under the support of the Rosatom State Corporation. As of October 13, over 660 delegates from 43 countries have registered to participate. The largest attending delegations of experts have arrived from Russia, Japan, the US, Germany and France.

Saint Petersburg is hosting an IAEA conference on thermonuclear fusion for the first time. Such IAEE events take place once in two years and are the main venue for the meeting of the international experts on thermonuclear fusion. The first conference on the subject took place in Salzburg, Austria, 1961. Subsequently, the conference took place in Culham (1965), Novosibirsk (1968), Madison (1971), Tokyo (1974), Berchtesgaden (1976), Innsbruck (1978), Brussels (1980), Baltimore (1982), London (1984), Kyoto (1986), Nice (1988), Washington DC (1990), Würzburg (1992), Seville (1994), Montreal (1996), Yokohama (1998), Sorrento (2000), Lyon (2002), Vilamoura (2004), Chengdu (2006), Geneva (2008), Daejeon (2010) and San Diego (2012).

Last year, Saint Petersburg has already been a venue for a high-level International IAEA Conference “Atomic Power in the 21st century” organized by the Agency jointly with the Russian Federation Government in association with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Rosatom State Corporation. The prospects for the use of nuclear power for obtaining clean energy and securing energy safety of various countries as well as the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and providing for the sustainable development have been discussed there. The conference had been attended by representatives from 89 countries of the world.

The present conference is intended to formulate a complete pallet of views with regard to the technology and investment aspects of its implementation. Its program includes technical sessions on the following topics: Magnetic Confinement Experiments; Magnetic Confinement Theory and Modelling; Plasma Overall Performance and Control; Inertial Fusion Experiments and Theory; Innovative Confinement Concepts; Fusion Engineering; Integration and Power Plant Design; Fusion Nuclear Physics and Technology; Materials Physics and Technology; Safety; Environmental and Economic Aspects of Fusion; and others.